Tank-car valve



se t; 29, 1925.

A. a. cA'RLL max we vanv:

Filed March 27, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

INVENTO ATTORNEY 5 2 m 5 .5 m 1 w h s 2 0 EW m n CA. .cw 1mm AM 1 1 F. 52 F 9 1 9 2 m INVENVTOR 5. 6 ar// ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 29, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,555,265 PATENT OFFICE.

ADDISON B. CARLL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN M.MILLI- KEN, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA; GUARANTY TRUST COMPANY OF NEWYORK, 01? NEW YORK, N. Y., EXECUTOR OF THE WILL 0F SAID ADDISON B.CARLL,

DECEASED.

TANK-CAR VALVE.

Application filed March 27, 1920. Serial No. 369,354.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that- I, ADnisoN B. GARLL, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented a new and useful Tank-Car Valve, of which the following isa. specification.

. This invention relates to the discharge valves and bottom outlets oftank cars and means for operating same.

The principal objects are to provide a valve and valve seat complete inthemselves and which can be fitted and ground tight before beinginstalled in the car, and easily removed afterwards when necessary, andin which the valve is always seated in true and exact place by meanswithin the seat, and also to provide an operating device so the valvemay be opened grac'lually or part way.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for preventing thedome cover from being closed until the bottom valve is completelyclosed.

It is necessary to have a spring cushion between the valve and thedevice for operating it when this device is in the dome, owing to thechange of shape of the tank when empty and loaded, and also tothevibration in transit.-

Previously these valves have been operated by a rod extending into thedome, this red being forced down by a spring, the only means of raisingit being by a cam or lever.

With such an arrangement the Valve cannot be opened gradually or leftpartly opened, as is often desirable.

The hollow shaft here shown provides means for operating these valves inany manner required, such as drawing small samples from the bottom ofthe car, or for drawing off water which might have settled there. Thespring under the shaft insures a constant pressure of the valve upon itsseat, regardless of expansion of the valve rod or changes inthe shape ofthe tank. Should the bottom leg become full of water and freeze, thisspring permits the valve to raise, thus relieving the expansion andpreventing the bottom leg from being bursted.

The invention 'will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with,

the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, with theunderstanding, however, that the invention is not confined to any strictconformity with the showing in the drawings, but may be changed andmodified so long as such changes and modifications mark no materialdeparture from the salient features of the invention as expressed in theappended claims.

In the drawings:

. Fig. 1 is an elevation with parts in cross section of the tank of acar showing one embodiment of the invention in position.

Fig. 2 is a detailed cross section showing the means for operating thevalve associated with means for preventing the dome cover from being puton until the valve is completely closed.

Figs. 3, 1 and 5 are each detail views partly in cross section ofdifierent forms of this valve, and adapted to be used with thevalve-operating construction shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of an adjustable bracket for the valve rod.

Referring to Fig. 1, the numeral 10 indicates the tank proper of a carhaving a dome 11, and a dome cover 12.

' At the bottom of the tank an outlet flange 13' is provided, to whichthe outlet leg 14 is screwed. This outlet flange is so shaped that itcannot be damaged in case the outlet leg is broken off, and so it willslide over obstructions in case the tank shears from the underframe in awreck. The usual V- shaped groove 15 is provided on the circumference ofthe outlet leg 14, close to the flange, so this leg may be broken offwithout damaging the flange or the part of the leg remaining in itcontaining the valve seat. A cap 16, of the usual form, is screwed ontothe lower end of the outlet leg when the cars are in transit. (Fig. 1.)I

Referring to Fig. 3,'the outlet flange 13 is riveted to the bottom ofthe tank, and the outlet leg 14 is screwed into it. The lugs 13,projecting from the inner walls of the outlet chamber in a radialdirection, provide convenient means by which this end may be unscrewedshould the lower end be broken off. The upper end of the outlet leg isshown as being on a level with the inner face of the flange 13. A valveseat 42 is formed upon the upper end of this leg and the inner walls ofit are made true with the valve seat. This valve seat may be made eitherbeveled, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, or fiat as shown in Fig. 5.Referring to Fig. 3, the valve comprises a beveled seating shoulder 37,a short cylindrical centering portion 38, and a tapered entering portion39. The valve and valve seat are preferably beveled at an angle offorty-five degrees, while the taper of the entering portion ispreferably sixty degrees. It will thus be seen that the tapered enteringportion will only come in contact with the inner lower edge of the valveseat. This valve has a collar 34 on its upper side with a socket 35 inwhich the valve rod 26 is loosely pinned. This socket tapers towards itslower end to permit the valve to rock to a limited extent with respectto the rod. This swing or rocking of the valve is provided so the valvemay always seat freely regardless of the rod being perfectly in linewith the valve seat. A pin 36 passing through the collar 34!: andthrough an aperture in the lower end of the rod 26 provides for holdingthe valve upon this rod. A guiding bracket 40 riveted to the bottom ofthe tank, provided with a hole or bore 41 considerably larger than thevalve rod, guides this rod so the tapered lower part of the valve willalways enter the valve seat. lVhen the valve is seated, however, thisbracket should not touch the valve rod.

The valve shown in Fig. 5 is the same as that shown in Fig. 3, exceptthat a flat seat is used instead of a beveled one. This valve requiresthe guiding bracket 40 shown in Fig. 3.

The valve in Fig. 4 differs from that of Fig. 3 only in eliminating theguiding bracket, and in substituting a guiding web in place of thecentering shoulders 38 and the beveled portion 39 of the previouslydescribed valves. Here the valve 44 consists of a plain disc with abeveled face and carries at its lower end a guiding web in the form of aplurality of radially extending members. These members meet centrally toform a cross, have each a curved cutaway section 46, and have theirouter longitudinal edges properly curved to fit the interior walls ofthe discharge leg 16%. As these webs are not pulled entirely out of theleg when the valve is opened, the guiding bracket inside the tank is notneeded.

I consider the present invention independent of any particular form ofvalve seat or shape of the guiding device under the valve. The essentialfeatures are that the valve when fitted to its seat shall alwaysafterwards be guided to the same central position by means projectingfrom the lower face of it into the seat opening, and

that both seat and valve may be taken out and renewed; further, byunscrewing the top nut 29 on the valve stem (described later), the valveand rod may be lowered through the opening in the outlet flange afterthe leg 1% has been taken out and the new valve installed withoutgetting into the tank. 1

Fig. 2shows the operating device for this valve, or a valve of any otherkind, and also a device for preventing the screwing on of the dome coverbefore the valve is closed. This latter device is desirable, assometimes after the car is emptied it is returned with the valve open,contrary to instructions issued by the railroad.

The valve rod 26 extends diametrically of the tank, as indicated in Fig.1, from the valve to the dome. A bracket 22, riveted to the side of thedome, has an internally threaded outer end. An externally threadedhollow shaft or sleeve 23, carrying a hand wheel 2 at its upper end,functions in the externally threaded outer end of the bracket 22, whichthreaded outer end serves as a nut. The valve rod 26 passes through thisthreaded shaft 23 and is held by a nut 29 and washer 28 at its upperend. A strong compression spring 32 encircles the valve rod 26 and bearsat its lower end. against the collar 33 made fast to the valve rod, andat its upper end bears against the externally threaded hollow shaft 23,a washer 31 being provided between the spring and the hollow shaft.

It will be seen that when the hollow externally threaded shaft isscrewed up or down, the valve rod and valve will be carried with it, andthat when the valve is seated and the screw still further operateddownwardly, the spring 32 will be further compressed. The screw 23 is ofsuch a length that when the valve is raised to its proper height, thewasher 31 comes in contact with the lower side of the external end ofthe bracket 22, andwhen the valve is seated the screw may be stillfurther operated downwardly to give the spring sufficient compression toallow for any change in the shape of the tank. When the hub 27 of thehand wheel is screwed entirely down, it will be looked upon the upperside of the bracket 22. The collar 33, fast to the valve rod 26, ispreferably made square or hexagonal in cross section so that a wrenchmay be used upon it if necessary to turn or rotate the valve, should itneed regrinding. The hand wheel 24 is preferably threaded internally toreceive the end of the threaded screw and is held in place by a setscrew 25.

In Fig. 6 is shown a form of adjustable bracket, desirable when thisappliance is being installed in tanks which are not uniform in size, andwhich would require brackets of different lengths. This bracketcomprises a web 17 a head 18 having a bore therein to receive the rod19, and set screw 21 engaging said rod to hold it in adjusted position.The rod 19 has a collar 20 at its outer end, which collar is threadedserving as a nut to receive the screw 23 already described. It will beseen that with this adjustable bracket the screw collar 20 can always beadjusted so the valve rod will hang centrally over the valve seat. Thisbracket can be used with a dome cover device to be described later, bylocating the set screw 21 on the under side and making the hole 52 inthe spring oblong.

Means for preventing the dome cover from being screwed in place untilthe valve is closed is provided, as shown in Fig. 2. Here a strong fiatmetallic spring 51 is secured at one end to any convenient point such asthe bracket 22, or it may be secured directly to the dome. This springhas an upturned bent section 53, which section is in turn bent at rightangles as at 5 1 and carries a projection short of the free end 54-.This projection is designed to engage with the under side of the rimwhich receives the dome cover and to prevent the spring from projectingup too high, for when cars are being unloaded and the valve has to beopened, the dome cover should be laid over the opening. This springshould be strong enough to support the weight of the dome cover, as wellas any force used in screwing it on, so that it cannot be screwed on bymistake before the valve is closed. hen, however, the hand wheel 24 hasbeen screwed down to the point where the valve rests upon the seat, thehub of this wheel 24 will engage the spring 51, and when this wheel isfinally screwed down the full way, the top of the spring will be drawndown below the dome cover opening. The spring 51 has an elongatedopening in it through which the screw threaded section of the valve rodpasses.

What is claimed is:

1. In a tank car valve, the combination of a valve for closing anopening in the bottom of the tank, a valve rod extending from the valveinto the dome of the tank car, a threaded hollow shaft mounted upon theupper end of said rod, a fixed nut mounted in the dome and coacting withsaid shaft, a spiral spring bearing against the lower end of said shaft,and means fixed to the rod forming a stop for the spring and also forturning the rod.

2. In means for closing the bottom outlet of tank cars, the combinationof a valve, a valve rod, and a flat spring having an elongated openingthrough which said valve rod operates, said spring being so shaped thatits upper end will project into the dome cover opening when the valveoperating device is open, and when the valve operating device has closedthe valve, said upper end of said spring will be drawn down below thedome cover opening, thus permitting the dome cover to be screwed on.

3. In a tank car valve, the combination of a valve for closing anopening in the bottom of the tank, a valve rod extending from the valveinto the dome of the tank car, a threaded hollow shaft mounted upon theupper end of said rod, a nut stationary in the dome and coacting withsaid shaft, a spiral spring bearing upon the lower end of the shaft,means fixed to the rod below the spring for holding it from movingdownwardly and also for turning the rod, whereby the valve may bebrought upon its seat by the action of its threaded shaft and spring toany desired pressure and may then be turned by the operation of the saidfixed means on the rod and reground to a perfect fit in case of leakage.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aifixedmy signature.

ADDISON B. (ARLL

